Applicants are added to Ohio Voter Rolls BEFORE they are VERIFIED as ELIGIBLE to Vote in Ohio

When applying to register to vote in-person at the BMV,

• the applicant's driver license/state id (DL/ID) number, name, address and birth date are already verified by the BMV. This information is pre-filled on the voter registration application.

• An in-person application assures a real person is associated to the voter registration application.

• There is no verification t

• gh the Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) has records to identify non-citizens. County BOEs do not have the tools to perform a non-citizen verification.

When applying to register to vote online,

• the applicant’s DL/ID number and SSN4, name and birth date are required to be entered and matched to BMV records.

• There is no verification the person registering to vote online is the actual person in which voter registration information is entered. It could be another person or a computer bot in an identity theft scheme.

• There is no verification the person is a US citizen before the county BOE adds the applicant to Ohio Voter Rolls; county BOEs do not have the tools to perform a non-citizen verification.

When applying to register to vote in-person at a designated agency that provides services for persons in need, the designated agency may prefill some identification information on on the voter registration application.

•  An in-person application assures a real person is associated to the voter registration application.

• The applicant's DL/ID number or SSN4, name and birth date IS NOT VERIFIED to match BMV or SSA records at the designated agency, although a designated agency may have such information.

• The applicant's DL/ID number or SSN4, name and birth date IS NOT VERIFIED to match BMV or SSA records by the county BOE before the county BOE adds the applicant to Ohio Voter Rolls. County BOEs do not have the tools to perform such verification.

• There is no verification the person is a US citizen before the county BOE adds the applicant to Ohio Voter Rolls; county BOEs do not have the tools to perform a non-citizen verification.

When applying to register to vote in-person at the county BOE,

•  An in-person application assures a real person is associated to the voter registration application.

• The applicant's DL/ID number or SSN4, name and birth date IS NOT VERIFIED to match BMV or SSA records by the county BOE before the county BOE adds the applicant to Ohio Voter Rolls. County BOEs do not have the tools to perform such verification.

• There is no verification the person is a US citizen before the county BOE adds the applicant to Ohio Voter Rolls; county BOEs do not have the tools to perform such a verification.

When applying to register to vote in-person at the SOS,  

• It is unknown if the applicant's DL/ID number or SSN4, name and birth date is verified to match BMV or SSA records by the SOS before forwarding the voter registration application to the appropriate county BOE to add to Ohio Voter Rolls.

• There is no verification the person is a US citizen before the county BOE adds the applicant to Ohio Voter Rolls; county BOEs do not have the tools to perform such a verification.

When applying to register to vote by-mail,

• there is no verification the person registering to vote by-mail is the actual person or computer bot in an identity theft scheme.

• The applicant's DL/ID number or SSN4, name and birth date IS NOT VERIFIED to match BMV or SSA records by the county BOE before county BOE adds the applicant to Ohio Voter Rolls. County BOEs do not have the tools to perform such verification.

• There is no verification the person is a US citizen before the county BOE adds the applicant to Ohio Voter Rolls; county BOEs do not have the tools to perform such a verification.

Within minutes or hours of an applicant being added to Ohio Voter Rolls, the now elector's DL/ID or SSN4, name and birth date are verified by the SOS to match BMV and SSA records.

Why isn't this verification completed BEFORE the person is added to Ohio Voter Rolls to assure only eligible electors are added to Ohio Voter Rolls?

If the verifications return a non-match, a flag is placed on the voter record and a Notice is sent to the elector asking the elector to correct or confirm their voter record information.

• If the Notice is returned correcting the non-match information, the BOE removes the flag on the voter record and makes the correction to the voter record (it is possible the new information is not verified during this process as county BOEs do not have the tools to verify this information.

• If the Notice is returned confirming the non-match information, county BOEs are instructed to remove the flag on the voter record and the elector can now vote in all Ohio elections - WITHOUT further investigation of the mismatch identification information.

• If the Notice is not returned, the elector remains on Ohio Voter Rolls with a flag. Voter records that are flagged are supposed to only vote a Provisional Ballot; however, data exists that indicates this may not always happen. Only if the elector does not vote for 4-6 years will the elector be removed from Ohio Voter Rolls.

US Citizenship is verified on a very limited group of electors on Ohio Voter Rolls once a year.

• It is possible for non-citizens to be active electors on Ohio Voter Rolls for up to a year and capable of voting in all Ohio elections before the annual review identifies the elector as a non-citizen.

• Once identified, a Notice is sent to the elector asking the elector to self-cancel their voter registration or provide records to prove they are a US citizen.

• If the elector does not respond to the Notice, the matter is turned over to the Attorney General.

• Refer to ohio4truth.com Election Blog - US Citizenship is NOT Verified Before Applicants are added to Ohio Voter Rolls; Some Electors on Ohio Voter Rolls are NEVER Verified to be US Citizens for more information.

Once a voter record is added to Ohio Voter Rolls, even if the person was never eligible to register to vote, it is very difficult to remove such voter record in a timely manner.

References:

NVRA: 52 U.S. Code § 20504, 52 U.S. Code § 20505, 52 U.S. Code § 20507

HAVA: 52 U.S. Code § 21083

Ohio Election Manual: Directive 2023-24 (Chapter 4)

Secretary of State and County Boards of Elections election officials consultation

All information stated herein is believed to be correct but is not guaranteed

US Citizenship is NOT Verified Before Applicants are added to Ohio Voter Rolls; Some Electors on Ohio Voter Rolls are NEVER Verified to be US Citizens

The current Ohio voting registration system allows ineligible persons who are not US citizens to (1) be active electors on Ohio voter rolls and (2) vote in Ohio elections, in violation of the Ohio Constitution, federal and state laws.

The National Voter Rights Act (NVRA) passed by US Congress in 1993 requires an applicant registering to vote to mark a checkbox stating the person is a US citizen. No supporting documents to indicate citizenship are necessary, and no verifications are made to existing citizenship documents already on file at state agencies (e.g. BMV and ODJFS). Our government uses the 'honor' system to meet the citizenship requirement when registering to vote.

Voter registration forms are distributed from the SOS by designated Ohio agencies along with applications for Ohio public assistance to individuals in need of child care, food, medical or cash assistance, along with other services. These applicants may fill out a voter registration form along with other application forms for public assistance without understanding the voter registration form is optional or understanding the requirements to be a US citizen when registering to vote.

The 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform & Immigrant Responsibility Act makes it a criminal offense for a non-citizen to vote in a federal election.

In November 2022, Ohio citizens voted overwhelmingly to prohibit persons who are not US citizens from voting in local elections by amending Ohio Constitution Article V, Sec 1 so that “Only a citizen of the United States . . . has the qualifications of an elector, and is entitled to vote at all elections. No person who lacks those qualifications shall be permitted to vote at any state or local election held in this state.”

Ohio Revised Code 3503.07 states “Each person . . . who is a citizen of the US . . . will . . . be entitled to be registered as an elector . . .”

Ohio Revised Code 3503.01 states: “(A) Every citizen of the United States . . . has the qualifications of an elector and may vote at all elections . . .“

An Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) driver license/state identification (DL/ID) number or the last four digits of social security number (SSN4) are required to register to vote in Ohio:

• Individuals who are not US citizens may have a DL/ID card. Over the next eight years or more, all DL/ID cards will indicate citizen or non-citizen status; however, it is not currently possible to determine every voter registration applicant is a US citizen based solely on viewing an Ohio DL/ID number/card. As of April, 2023, The Department of Public Safety (DPS) reported over 220,000 Ohio DL/IDs issued to individuals who are not US citizens. Given the thousands of illegal immigrants entering the US daily through the southern border since the DPS Report in April, 2023, this number is likely to increase significantly.

• Individuals who are not US citizens have social security numbers. It is not possible to determine a voter registration applicant is a US citizen based solely on viewing the SSN4 entered on a voter registration application form.

Although federal laws, the Ohio Constitution and Ohio State laws require US citizenship to register and vote, the requirement to verify US citizenship before adding a person to Ohio’s voter rolls as an eligible elector is not specifically addressed in any law or Secretary of State (SOS) directives. There is presently no US citizenship verification process prior to adding a person to Ohio's voter rolls, causing potential ineligible non-citizens to exist on Ohio voter rolls and vote in Ohio elections.

While the BMV and other state agencies such as Ohio Job & Family Services have citizenship documents on file that may legally be used to verify citizenship before adding a voter registration applicant to Ohio’s voter rolls, that process is currently not utilized to assure only US citizens are registered and voting in Ohio as required by federal and state laws and the Ohio Constitution.

Per Ohio Revised Code 3503.152, the SOS conducts an Annual Review of the official statewide voter registration database (SWVRD) to identify persons who appear not to be US citizens based solely on citizenship documents on file at the BMV.

• The SOS Annual Non-Citizen Review is deficient in many areas:

(1) Since the Non-Citizen Review is only administered annually, it may be possible for non-US citizens to be active registered voters for up to a year before any verification for US citizenship is initiated. This includes the possibility of non-citizens VOTING in Ohio elections.

(2) Only a fraction of the potential total non-citizens on Ohio voter rolls are identified using the existing SOS Annual Non-Citizen Review criteria described below.

(3) Only a fraction of the potential total non-citizens on Ohio voter rolls are identified using citizenship documents on file only at the BMV, since not all voter registration applicants have or enter a BMV DL/ID on a voter registration form.

(4) An identified non-citizen from a Non-Citizen Review is requested to provide documents to prove they are a citizen or to self-cancel their voter registration. The only other way a non-citizen can be removed from Ohio voter rolls is through the legal system.

• Instead of performing a current citizenship verification using the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program managed by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in which current citizenship status is obtained based on citizenship documents on file at the BMV and all other state agencies, or utilizing other available government or commercial database(s), the SOS Annual Non-Citizen Review utilizes the following criteria to identify a non-citizen per Ohio Revised Code 3503.152:

  • FIRST, an individual must submit documents to the BMV to indicate the person is not a US citizen;

  • SECOND, the individual must register to vote, or change their voter registration name or address, or vote;

  • THIRD, the individual must AGAIN submit documents to the BMV to indicate the person is not a US citizen.

How many non-citizens are excluded from the SOS Annual Non-Citizen

Review based on the above established criteria?

How many non-citizens register to vote BEFORE submitting documents to

the BMV?

What if non-citizens do not ever submit documents to the BMV?

What if non-citizens do not submit documents to the BMV a 2nd time?

• The SOS Annual Non-Citizen Review may exclude all electors who enter SSN4 as identification instead of a DL/ID on their voter registration application form, even though the SOS may have access to non-citizen records from the Social Security Administration and state agencies other than the BMV.

  • The federal law Help America Vote Act (HAVA) (a)(5)(A)(i)(I,II) and (iii), requires a DL/ID number to be entered as identification on a voter registration form and only if there is no DL/ID, shall SSN4 be entered as identification.

  • Over 25,000 electors were added to Ohio voter rolls in 2023 where SSN4 was entered as identification on voter registration forms (based on Help America Vote Verification (HAVV) reporting). Keep in mind, these voter registrations were added to Ohio voter rolls BEFORE the applicants were verified as qualified electors. It is likely none of these electors will ever be verified for US citizenship on the current SOS Annual Non-Citizen Review that only identifies non-citizens based on BMV records.

  • Since 2011, over 800,000 electors were added to Ohio voter rolls where SSN4 was entered as identification on voter registration forms (based on HAVV reporting). Keep in mind, these voter registrations were added to Ohio voter rolls BEFORE the applicants were verified as qualified electors. It is likely none of these electors have or will ever be verified for US citizenship on the current SOS Annual Non-Citizen Review that only identifies non-citizens based on BMV records.  

How many ineligible non-citizens are current electors on Ohio's voter rolls due

to the deficiencies in the SOS Annual Non-Citizen Review?

Note: Concerned Ohio citizens attempted to improve Ohio Revised Code 3503.152 language to include a more comprehensive Non-Citizen Review in Senate Bill 71 (SB71) March 2023 but efforts were dismissed. SB71merged into the Ohio House Budget Bill (HB33) and was signed into law July 2023 with the current language in 3503.152 that does not verify all electors on Ohio voter rolls are US citizens.

Due to the lack of verification that only US citizens exist as electors on Ohio's voter rolls, accurate and current voter rolls are not maintained in Ohio, in violation of NVRA Sec 2(b) which states, "The purposes of this Act are to ensure that accurate and current voter registration rolls are maintained."

Disclaimer: All information presented in this document is believed to be correct based on publicly sourced data research but is not guaranteed.

Absent Ballot Id Envelopes and Provisional Ballots do not require a Valid Birth Date that matches an Elector's Birth Date.

The following is Ohio State Law: Section 3509.06 Counting absent voters' ballots:

(3)(a) An identification envelope statement of voter shall be considered incomplete if it does not include all of the following:

(i) The voter's name;

(ii) The voter's residence address or, if the voter has a confidential voter registration record, as described in section 111.44 of the Revised Code, the voter's program participant identification number;

(iii) The voter's date of birth. The requirements of this division are satisfied if the voter provided a date of birth and any of the following is true:

(I) The month and day of the voter's date of birth on the identification envelope statement of voter are not different from the month and day of the voter's date of birth contained in the statewide voter registration database.

(II) The voter's date of birth contained in the statewide voter registration database is January 1, 1800.

(III) The board of elections has found, by a vote of at least three of its members, that the voter has met the requirements of divisions (D)(3)(a)(i), (ii), (iv), and (v) of this section.

Analysis of current Ohio Revised Code 3509.06: Date of birth is required on the absent voter’s ballot identification envelope along with the voter’s name and address.

• If the voter wrote a month and day on the identification envelope that matches the month and day of their birth date on the voter rolls, but the year written on the identification envelope doesn’t match the voter rolls, no worries; it’s ok if you don’t remember the year you were born; the date of birth requirement is met and your absent voter’s ballot will count as long as the other information on the identification envelope passes inspection.

• Regardless of the month, day and year written on the identification envelope for your birth date, if the date of birth on the voter rolls is January 1, 1800, your absent voter’s ballot will count as long as the other information on the identification envelope passes inspection. Let me repeat: you can enter any date as your birth date on the identification envelope and if you are 223 years old with a birth date of January 1, 1800 on the voter registration database, as were over 800 voters in Nov 2022 and over 1,300 voters in Nov 2020, no worries; you passed the date of birth inspection per Ohio state law to vote an absent ballot.   

• If three of four board of elections members decide that you met the requirements of writing your name and address on the identification envelope and provide acceptable identification, then the date of birth becomes optional and isn’t required at all.

Why even ask for date of birth on the identification envelope if Ohio State Law doesn’t verify it matches the voter rolls?

Keep in mind, voter’s who submit incomplete or incorrect absent voter’s ballots have an opportunity to correct or cure the incorrect or incomplete information on their identification envelope.

We’ve all likely received a notice in the mail that our private information was compromised from a bank or other entity. It’s not difficult for someone to impersonate another person with our stolen personal information and submit an absent voter ballot. When the real person attempts to vote on Election Day, they are told they have already voted.

Why is Ohio Secretary of State making it easier for this to happen by not requiring the date of birth written on the identification envelope match the date of birth on the voter rolls?  

The same lack of a valid Birth Date is currently in Ohio law 3505.183 for Provisional Ballots.

If you do not agree with this law, reach out to The Secretary of State or your Ohio state senator/representative to let them know this is unacceptable in Ohio elections, and demand change.